Hello, everyone!

I was nervous about doing a bio—putting yourself out there is about as scary as having someone read your words, am I right? But then I realized this is a chance to get to know other writers better and participate in the writing community—which, seriously, is so amazing and supportive—so I decided to go for it!

So, here are some random facts about me:

I have three beautiful children: my stepdaughter is 18, my older son is 9, and my little guy is 4. I am so proud of them, and I love that they all love reading as much as I do!

I am an introvert who has become more outgoing over time, but inside I’m still shy and awkward. (And usually when I engage with a tweet, I second guess myself about 1,000 times.)

I am a huge fan of The X-Files, and I wish I would’ve known about fan fiction as a teen in the 90s—I totally would’ve been writing it. (Perhaps I can start now to finish out that cliffhanger they left us with…)

My favorite book of all time is The Handmaid’s Tale, and my top three favorite authors are Margaret Atwood, Gillian Flynn, and Liane Moriarty. But the books that got me back into reading and writing were the Hunger Games and Twilight series. (The Hunger Games series is still among my favorites.)

When I say I got back into writing…I’ve been writing all this time for work, but a different type: I spent 10 years as a reporter and editor at a daily newspaper and now write for a university.

My favorite Harry Potter character is Molly Weasley, and I have been known to threaten to send a howler to my 9-year-old if he gets in trouble at school.

I try not to use MS to refer to my manuscripts because I have MS, and I tweet and blog about that as well as my writing. (Don’t want to confuse things.) My diagnosis is what spurred me to finally finish “that” book—you know, the one I’d been meaning to finish for years.

“That” book is what I’m entering in Pitch Wars: UNTIL THE END is adult upmarket women’s fiction that is THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE meets THE STAND. Lilia Franklin’s husband and son are on the shuttle to Mars, but she’s given up her seat to save an abandoned child. Now she must brave an apocalyptic Midwest to find another launch—before the asteroid hits. The story is dark and scary, with plenty of action and adventure as Lilia fights to get back to her family. But at its heart it’s a story about love and about finding your strength. I entered Pitch Wars last year but have since revised substantially, and I would greatly appreciate the help of a mentor to take my story to the next level. I’m ready and willing to work hard to get it there!

I need to up my Pinterest game—still working on creating boards for my manuscripts—but I put together this novel aesthetics collage:

And here is a playlist based on UNTIL THE END:

Work Song by Hozier

Love Runs Out by One Republic

Beam Me Up by Pink

I See Fire by Ed Sheeran

Can’t Help Falling in Love by Ingrid Michaelson

Radioactive by Imagine Dragons

Stand By You by Rachel Platten

Something I Need by One Republic

Next to Me by Emeli Sande

Writing a novel has been a lifelong dream, but once I finished it, I couldn’t stop with one! I now have a first draft of a sequel to UNTIL THE END, and I’m finishing up a thriller that is SHARP OBJECTS meets BIG LITTLE LIES.

Thanks for reading! You can find me on Twitter at @ElissaDickey, and find more Pitch Wars bios here. Good luck, and remember:

Write on, friends.